City of Tacoma Offers Employers Information Sessions on Paid Leave

Tacoma's paid leave ordinance takes effect on Feb. 1, 2016. Employers who want to learn more about this ordinance, and the tools available to them as they work to incorporate paid leave into their respective workplaces, are encouraged to attend one of two employer information sessions in October:

Thursday, Oct. 15, 4 - 5:30 p.m.
Tacoma Public Library Main Branch (Olympic Room)
1102 Tacoma Ave. S.

Tuesday, Oct. 20, 10 - 11:30 a.m.
STAR Center (Discover Room)
3873 S. 66th Street

These information sessions will be followed by a question and answer session if time permits.

In addition to these information sessions, nearly a dozen business organizations and community groups have arranged to receive special presentations from City staff. Organizations or community groups wishing to schedule a special presentation can email paidleave@cityoftacoma.org or call (253) 591-5306.

More information for employers and workers is available at cityoftacoma.org/paidleave, by emailing paidleave@cityoftacoma.org or calling (253) 591-5306.

Chamber Joins Concerns & Seeking Help

The Chamber joined numerous other organizations and companies encouraging help in ensuring the present interruptions in West Coast port terminal operations does not escalate to a complete shutdown.

Following below, please find the letter from Washington state & Pacific NW employers to President Obama, expressing our deep concerns.

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Option to Call National Leaders into PMA-ILWU Negotiations

If you wish to join in support of national leadership in seeking a resolution of the PMA-ILWU contract negotiation, you may sign a petition on the White House website urging President Obama to get involved to end the dispute. 

Use Your Network to Refer a Student to YEA!

The Chamber is proud to offer a unique program in entrepreneurial education for high school students. The Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!), now entering its 1st year in Tacoma and its tenth  year nationwide, is an intensive six-month program that teaches middle and high school students how to start and run their own REAL businesses and social movements.

Students are guided through each step of starting an enterprise, from brainstorming the idea to pitching their business plan to investors. Classroom learning is anchored by real-world applications, such as submitting DBAs to the County Clerk’s Office, opening bank accounts, filing tax returns, and earning real profits at a trade show.

 

Business leaders have insights on students who are passionate about business and would excel in the YEA! program. Please consider encouraging creative, motivated students to apply. Qualified students are those who have a strong work ethic and demonstrate high levels of effort on a consistent basis. Although prior experience in business is not required, students should have a strong interest in business and/or starting their own company or social movement. We encourage you to share information about the Academy with any student that you know that might be interested.

 

You may also have friends, colleagues and staff that might know students who would be interested in applying. Please feel free to share the information with those individuals as well.

 

The deadline for returning the completed YEA! application and scholarship application is Thursday, December 5, 2013. The Academy will notify the students who are accepted into the Class of 2014 by Tuesday, December 24.

 

Please note, scholarships are available and are selected based on the student’s application, letter of recommendation, student written statement, personal interview, and financial need.

 

For questions about student eligibility or the student selection procedures, contact the Chamber’s office at 253.682.1726 or yea@tacomachamber.org. Thank you for your support.

The Business Case for Hiring Vets

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REGISTER HERE

Chamber Responds to Rumors of Sick Leave Mandate

The Chamber has responded to rumors that the Tacoma City Council will consider a directive to city staff to study/prepare legislation establishing a mandated sick leave regulation.  This regulation would impact those doing business in Tacoma as well as those located in Tacoma.   More background information will be provided by the Chamber.

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National Education & Workforce Tour Visits Tacoma

Education, the skills gap and workforce development are frequent and relevant topics in the business community.

The Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, in partnership with the Institute for a Competitive Workforce and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, will host the "Breaking the Monopoly of Mediocrity" Tour on February 20th.

Visit the Chamber's online events calendar to learn more about this event. RSVP no later than Friday, February 15. 

Employment Security’s Shared Work Program Helps Keep Businesses Afloat

More than two-thirds of employers who participated in Employment Security’s Shared-Work layoff-avoidance program in 2011 say the program helped them survive the recession. Another 20 percent of businesses reported that it probably had.

These amazing results show that the Shared-Work Program is one of the most effective tools offered by any government agency to save jobs and businesses. The program allows employers to reduce the hours of their full-time employees by up to 50 percent, while the workers collect partial unemployment benefits to make up for some of the lost wages. This provides business owners with immediate payroll savings without losing skilled employees.

In 2011, 3,176 businesses and more than 38,000 employees were approved to participate in Shared Work, the second-highest year on record. The program also saved an estimated 26,000 jobs and more than $42 million in unemployment-benefit payouts in 2011.

Most employers who responded to Employment Security’s survey reported cutting their payroll by 20 percent or more. Additionally, 52 percent of businesses saved up to two jobs, while 30 percent saved three to five jobs, and another 12 percent saved five to 10 jobs.

Better yet, nearly 100 percent of participating employers said they would apply for the program again and recommend it to other struggling businesses.

If your business is struggling and you’ve been considering layoffs as a way to cut costs, check out Employment Security's Shared-Work Program as an alternative.

Thousands of Washington businesses have used the program to cut costs and hang on to their most valuable resource – their trained employees.

To learn more about the Shared-Work Program, visit www.esd.wa.gov, search on “shared work,” or call 800-752-2500.

By Guest Blogger Paul Trause, Employment Security Commissioner

Chamber Speaks for Business in Education Forum

On February 23, KBTC, Bates Technical College, Business Examiner and Northwest Public Radio presented “Building a Grad Nation: The American Graduate Project Forum.”

Tom Pierson, Chamber President & CEO, was invited as a business leader to participate in a panel discussion on exploring the impact low graduation rates have on our community.

Fueled by the detrimental national rate of more than a million students dropping out of high
school each year and the effect this has for our nation to compete in a global world, KBTC joined public media stations across the country to address the issue in their own communities. Pierson
represented business interests within the panel and touched upon the close ties entrepreneurship and education to jobs and therefore businesses and the community.

“There is an undeniable connection between K-12 education and business. The stronger our schools are, the stronger our workforce and the stronger our businesses and community,” Pierson said.

Pierson’s message was that businesses definitely care about the health of K-12 education and are willing to be engaged in the future of our community’s workforce.

Along with Pierson, the participating panelists also included Miguel Blanco (President - Pierce County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce), J.W. Harrington (Vice Chancellor - University of Washington-Tacoma), Kurt Miller (Director - Reach Center/Tacoma School Board), Salvador Mungia (Partner – Gordon Thomas Honeywell/Member – Tacoma Mayor’s Education Task Force) with Jeff Rounce, Business Examiner CEO moderating.

FTAs Signing on Friday

On Friday, October 21st, President Obama will sign the Korea, Panama and Colombia Free Trade Agreements and the renewal of Trade Adjustment Assistance for workers in the Oval Office before making remarks in the Rose Garden. 

In his remarks, President Obama will underscore that these trade agreements will significantly boost American exports, support tens of thousands of American jobs and protect labor rights, the environment and intellectual property.  President Obama will be joined in the Rose Garden by business and labor leaders as well as workers who will benefit from these bills.

Nalleys Employees in Job Fair

A 93 - year Tacoma icon – Nalleys, as you have likely heard, is closing for good on June 25. Nalleys has 160 local employees who will lose their positions as a result of this closure.

We learned very recently that Nalleys is putting on a Job Fair for their employees to help them find employment after their doors close for the last time. The Job Fair is scheduled for this Thursday, June 9 – and as of today, they are still looking for local employers who may have a need for employees with a wide variety of skills (see attached letter).

Andee Handeland (ahandeland@birdseyefoods.com, 253-591-3277 – office, 253-905-6006 - cell) is the contact if you have questions or would like to attend. A letter with all the details is available here. The employees are management and non-management, hourly and salaried.

If you are interested, this may be a great opportunity to find experienced employees in the local area. Thank you for considering this or for passing it along to the appropriate person in your organization.

What are YOUR hiring plans?

During the month of December, WorkForce Central is asking Pierce County employers to share their confidential insights about hiring plans for 2011.

It will take approximately two minutes to confidentially answer the 10 question survey - click here. Your input will provide important feedback that WorkForce Central could use to effectively serve Pierce County employers during the coming year.

To receive the results of the survey directly, include your e-mail address at the end of the survey.

You may share this survey with fellow Pierce County employers by sharing the survey link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CCLFLZ5

Dollars Given to Train Your Workforce

Earlier in this blog, we talked about the availability of Dollars To Train Your Workforce, (to the tune of $450,000 to be exact), from Workforce Central. This investment was competitively obtained by WorkForce Central to benefit our local businesses in a time when employee training funds are tight.

Today Workforce Central announced the awardees of the employee training fund in their press release. A total of 1,321 employees are to be trained as a result of the awards. A goodly amount of Chamber members are on the list. So, for those who took advantage of this opportunity, congratulations!

Washington Union Membership - 2009

The Bureau of Labor Statistics issued a press release Tuesday on union membership in Washington. Statistical highlights include:

• In 2009, the number of workers belonging to a union was 574,000 in Washington state.
• Union members accounted for 20.2 percent of wage and salary workers in the State for 2009, compared to 19.8 percent from last year
• Nationally, the number of workers belonging to a union fell by 771,000 to 15,327,000 in 2009.

Dollars to Train Your Workforce

$450,000 is available to assist Pierce County businesses to upgrade their existing employees’ skills to increase productivity and competitiveness.

WorkForce Central, the single contact for Pierce County employers to access a comprehensive system of workforce services, is responding to our business community’s need to keep its employees skills current, whether these are soft skills or technical skills.

This investment was competitively obtained by WorkForce Central to benefit our local businesses in a time when employee training funds are tight. A highly trained workforce is key to our economic recovery and overall prosperity. WorkForce Central invites Pierce County businesses to submit a funding request for consideration by February 19, 2010, no later than 5:00 p.m.

Please go to Workforce Central for details. All awarded requests will be announced on March 1, 2010.

Meet Vets as Job Candidates

An Opportunity Expo is scheduled to match job-seeking veterans, transitioning military personnel, members of the Guard and Reserve and military family members with hiring employers.

At this event, recruiters for employers, franchisers and educational institutions will meet face-to-face with these highly qualified and highly sought-after candidates. We invite you to join them!

Members of the Tacoma–Pierce County Chamber of Commerce who register to participate in this event are entitled to a 10% discount. To take advantage of this offer, contact RecruitMilitary’s Matt Murphy and mention your membership. Matt can be reached via email or 610-933-3331.

The Expo will be held on Thursday, November 19, 2009 from 11:00am – 3:00pm at the ShoWare Center. Additional details on this event can be found here.

At a RecruitMilitary Expo, you can begin the selection process with what is normally one of the final stages—a face-to-face meeting with the candidate. If you are looking to hire employees this year, or have a franchise/educational opportunity to offer, this is an event you won't want to miss!

State minimum wage to remain unchanged

Washington's minimum wage will remain at $8.55 an hour next year.

Initiative 688, which Washington voters approved in 1998, requires the minimum wage to increase to account for inflation. Labor and Industries (L&I) announced that because the Consumer Price Index (CPI) decreased about 2 percent during the past year, the minimum wage will not be increasing for the first time since Initiative 688 passed.

Washington still has the highest minimum wage in the nation.

So if the CPI decreased, why didn’t the state minimum wage? L&I spokeswoman Elaine Fischer, was quoted in yesterday’s Puget Sound Business Journal, the law “doesn’t specify anything about decreasing the minimum wage.”

An Alternative to Layoffs

Employment Security’s Shared-Work Program allows employers to temporarily reduce the work hours of their full-time employees by up to 50 percent, while the workers collect partial unemployment benefits to replace a portion of their lost wages.

Shared Work is great for employers because they get to keep their experienced and skilled workers.

The program is designed to be flexible to meet a variety of business needs – and it is working. A record 2,062 businesses and nearly 42,000 employees are currently participating in the program.

In a recent survey of participating employers, 56% said the Shared-Work Program has helped them survive the recession.

Information about the program is available online, search on “shared work,” or by phone at 800-752-2500.

Guest Author: Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee